All 28 pilot whales stranded in Golden Bay have died, after their pod became trapped at the high tide mark on Farewell Spit this morning.

Eleven died in the first hour and another a short time later.

The Department of Conservation (Doc) this afternoon confirmed a decision had been made to euthanise the remaining 16 whales, and programme manager Hans Stoffregen said Doc was disappointed at the outcome.

The whales were destroyed this afternoon.

Earlier today, Mr Stoffregen said something must be wrong with the whales, as pilot whales can usually survive for days in the same conditions.

"It's unusual that they would die so quickly.''

Mass whale strandings are not uncommon at Farewell Spit.

They swim into the relatively shallow water during high tide, but the tide recedes very quickly and they become stuck on the sand.

In January, more than 80 whales died after a mass standing of 99 pilot whales at Farewell Spit.

Please note : Where appropriate for posted images/ graphs I acknowledge the New Zealand GeoNet project and its sponsors EQC, GNS Science and LINZ, for providing data/images used in my study and analyses of Volcanic and Earthquake information in New Zealand.

Re: WHAT IS HAPPENING AT WHITE ISLAND VOLCANO??? New Zealand/Kermadec & South Pacific QUAKE/VOLCANO WATCH

I ran across some interesting volcano activity. Most interesting is the Newberry Volcano. It is the largest volcano in the Cascades, covering an area the size of Rhode Island. Its last eruption was 1300 years ago and the last major eruption 75,000 years ago. Now fast forward to today; over the last 40 years Newberry volcano has averaged 0 earthquakes. In the last month there have been 24 earthquakes! Mount Hood and Rainer have both show increased activity in the same mountain chain. Iceland, Alaska and Russia all show increased activity as well. Most recent change further north was the Cleveland Volcano. On November 10, 2012 there was an ash cloud and they changed the alert level from ADVISORY to WATCH with the following warning, “Sudden explosions of blocks and ash remain possible with little or no warning. The previous confirmed explosion occurred on November 10. Ash clouds, if produced, could exceed 20,000 feet above sea level.”

Re: WHAT IS HAPPENING AT WHITE ISLAND VOLCANO??? New Zealand/Kermadec & South Pacific QUAKE/VOLCANO WATCH

"The Earthquake Commission has substantially increased its reinsurance cover for the 2012-13 year, trebling the amount it paid before the Canterbury earthquakes so it has potential cover for a "$7 billion" Wellington quake. "

Its not showing on some of the drums though so may be something noisy in the area but not often activity shows on all three at same time...

Interested observer of all things interesting!

Please note : Where appropriate for posted images/ graphs I acknowledge the New Zealand GeoNet project and its sponsors EQC, GNS Science and LINZ, for providing data/images used in my study and analyses of Volcanic and Earthquake information in New Zealand.

Re: WHAT IS HAPPENING AT WHITE ISLAND VOLCANO??? New Zealand/Kermadec & South Pacific QUAKE/VOLCANO WATCH

I ran across some interesting volcano activity. Most interesting is the Newberry Volcano. It is the largest volcano in the Cascades, covering an area the size of Rhode Island. Its last eruption was 1300 years ago and the last major eruption 75,000 years ago. Now fast forward to today; over the last 40 years Newberry volcano has averaged 0 earthquakes. In the last month there have been 24 earthquakes! Mount Hood and Rainer have both show increased activity in the same mountain chain. Iceland, Alaska and Russia all show increased activity as well. Most recent change further north was the Cleveland Volcano. On November 10, 2012 there was an ash cloud and they changed the alert level from ADVISORY to WATCH with the following warning, “Sudden explosions of blocks and ash remain possible with little or no warning. The previous confirmed explosion occurred on November 10. Ash clouds, if produced, could exceed 20,000 feet above sea level.”

Re: WHAT IS HAPPENING AT WHITE ISLAND VOLCANO??? New Zealand/Kermadec & South Pacific QUAKE/VOLCANO WATCH

I ran across some interesting volcano activity. Most interesting is the Newberry Volcano. It is the largest volcano in the Cascades, covering an area the size of Rhode Island. Its last eruption was 1300 years ago and the last major eruption 75,000 years ago. Now fast forward to today; over the last 40 years Newberry volcano has averaged 0 earthquakes. In the last month there have been 24 earthquakes! Mount Hood and Rainer have both show increased activity in the same mountain chain. Iceland, Alaska and Russia all show increased activity as well. Most recent change further north was the Cleveland Volcano. On November 10, 2012 there was an ash cloud and they changed the alert level from ADVISORY to WATCH with the following warning, “Sudden explosions of blocks and ash remain possible with little or no warning. The previous confirmed explosion occurred on November 10. Ash clouds, if produced, could exceed 20,000 feet above sea level.”

Re: WHAT IS HAPPENING AT WHITE ISLAND VOLCANO??? New Zealand/Kermadec & South Pacific QUAKE/VOLCANO WATCH

"The Earthquake Commission has substantially increased its reinsurance cover for the 2012-13 year, trebling the amount it paid before the Canterbury earthquakes so it has potential cover for a "$7 billion" Wellington quake. "

Re: WHAT IS HAPPENING AT WHITE ISLAND VOLCANO??? New Zealand/Kermadec & South Pacific QUAKE/VOLCANO WATCH

I ran across some interesting volcano activity. Most interesting is the Newberry Volcano. It is the largest volcano in the Cascades, covering an area the size of Rhode Island. Its last eruption was 1300 years ago and the last major eruption 75,000 years ago. Now fast forward to today; over the last 40 years Newberry volcano has averaged 0 earthquakes. In the last month there have been 24 earthquakes! Mount Hood and Rainer have both show increased activity in the same mountain chain. Iceland, Alaska and Russia all show increased activity as well. Most recent change further north was the Cleveland Volcano. On November 10, 2012 there was an ash cloud and they changed the alert level from ADVISORY to WATCH with the following warning, “Sudden explosions of blocks and ash remain possible with little or no warning. The previous confirmed explosion occurred on November 10. Ash clouds, if produced, could exceed 20,000 feet above sea level.”